Can't delete backup folder in Vista

So I am running Windows Vista Home on my new Gateway laptop. A couple of weeks ago I had to do a restore and chose to backup the files at the same time. It created a folder on the hard drive called "backup". In this folder, is everything that was on my hard drive before the restore - including the Program Files, Users and Windows folders. I'm ready to delete this folder (as it's taking up about 20GB) but it won't delete. It has let me delete everything except those three folders and their contents. I've even been able to delete some of the sub-folders of Program Files, but not the folder it's self.

I found an article that mentioned that I had to take "ownership" of the folders before I could delete them. I followed the instructions on how to do this, and I think I did that successfully. But I still can't delete them. The error message says it's just unable to delete the folders.

I also have a Gateway PC, running Vista... and I experienced the EXACT same situation of having to recover/reinstall Vista and ending up with folders in C:\BACKUP that could not be deleted.

Below are the steps that I took to change ownership and control permissions for the troublesome folders/files. (NOTE: I don't know if this will make any difference, but I had turned off the "User Controls" for my Vista account. My Vista account had Administrative privileges. My Vista desktop "theme" has been set to a classic start menu and classic folders.)

You'll need to use Windows Explorer to navigate to the location of the folder you want to delete... then follow these steps.

Hi, I have the exact same problems, but I'm usuing XP, not Vista. I figured these directions would be at least pretty similar to the ones I need, but right after step 2 I am lost. I have no security tab, just three tabs named "General," "Sharing," and "Customize." There is an "Advanced" button in the General tab, but it does not have any options having to do with "Owner."

Any ideas? For some reason, this is the third time my computer has had to reboot in a year, and I would like to delete the old "Backup" folders.

erinp06... u need to start your own thread for a solution to your problem.
but nywys
.
i think the your problem is that you havent unchecked "simple sharing"
for this
go to "my computer>tools>folder options"
go to "view" tab
scroll to the bottom and uncheck "Use simple file sharing (Recommended)"
.
now you should get the "security" tab in the properties of any folder on a NTFS drive.